The Highwayman by Shannon McNear

Giveaway winner is Charis! Congratulations and thank you all for coming by to comment!

Novella Review by Lisa Norato

The Most Eligible BACHELOR Romance Collection
THE HIGHWAYMAN
by Shannon McNear

Barbour Books © 2015 

The Most Eligible BACHELOR is a delightful collection of nine romantic novellas of Americana history. The bachelors and their love interests range from a variety of time periods and walks of life. This review is for Shannon McNear's novella, The Highwayman.

The Highwayman is set along the Great Wagon Road, lower Shenandoah Valley, on the eve of the American Revolution.

Samuel Wheeler is a colonial wagon master who is terrifyingly accurate with a whip. His skill and daring "accidentally" land him the title The Highwayman when, on a lark, he darns the unclaimed boots and embroidered coat of a nobleman to become the disguised rescuer of a lady in distress. A rescue has led to chasing down redcoats, and now Sam's exploits are known up and down the Great Road. Stories of his bravery are repeated by children. Sam, however, has grown tired of his clandestine activities and longs for nothing more than to be able to express his love for Tall Sally, but every time he's near her, his tongue grows thick, his hands clumsy and he can hardly breathe, let alone speak.

Sarah Brewster is the tall and lovely red-haired daughter of an inn keeper along the road where Samuel and his cousin frequently stop. When Sally is accosted one evening, Sam dons his disguise and comes to her rescue. He finds he can declare his feelings as the Highwayman in a way he can't as humble wagon master Sam. But is the Highwayman in for a secret romance and more trouble than he can handle?

If you love a strong, silent hero, you'll fall for Sam as much as I did. You'll come to care for Tall Sally and the rest of the Brewster family. Shannon makes her colonial setting come to life, and her plot is a well-crafted tale of danger, deceit and romance with a satisfying, climatic ending. A wonderful, entertaining read that I highly recommend!

GIVEAWAYS!

Leave a comment and your email address to be entered to win this adorable stuffed calf in honor of Sam's team of oxen. Also being given away is a copy of the Novella Collection with a bookplate signed by all of the contributing authors.

Shannon McNear's first published novella, Defending Truth, in A Pioneer Christmas Collection (Barbour, 2013), was a 2014 RITA nominee. Her second novella, The Highwayman, was released in May as part of The Most Eligible Bachelor Collection (Barbour). She writes regularly for The Borrowed Book and Colonial Quills, and is a member of ACFW and RWA.

Early Novels, Authors and the Publishing Industry

In the early days of publishing, our U.S. Articles of Confederation gave no provision for copyright and left the States to address the issue individually. Authors were forced to copyright their work in each state to ensure complete protection of their work. This practice continued until 1790 when Congress finally enacted a national copyright law under the Constitution. The law protected American writers for 28 years, but gave no protection to foreign writers.

Publishing boomed over the next 40 years, and here in America, European books went into piracy on a large scale. Popular novels like Tom Jones and Robinson Crusoe were reprinted and sold many times over in early America without a penny paid to their foreign authors. Philadelphia was the center of publishing, with a dozen or so smaller towns like Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also publishing books.

Susanna Rowson

This left American writers at a significant disadvantage. Foreign books came free to publishers and were generally considered of a higher standard than American works. The runaway bestseller of its day was Charlotte Temple by British author, Susanna Rowson. Young colonial ladies blushed and wept over its tragic, romantic plotline and slept with it under their pillows. First published in America in 1794, the novel ran through 200 editions.

Some American writers did manage to get recognized. Attorney and statesman, William Wirt, of Virginia wrote The Letters of a British Spy, which quickly became a bestseller in 1803 and later went on to write a biography of Founding Father, Patrick Henry. By the late 1820s, Nathaniel Hawthorne had begun jotting his first lines in Salem and Henry David Thoreau was observing nature in Concord, but it was in New York City that American literature first came onto its own with author Washington Irving.

Washington Irving

 In 1809, he wrote the satire, Knickerbocker’s History of New York. The book’s gaiety and charm was not exactly what the editors were anticipating, but it made its mark as early American literature, nonetheless. Washington’s short story, Sleepy Hollow, is still wildly popular today and is one of my all-time favorites, in all its forms, from the original book to movies and television.

Headless Horseman chases Ichabod Crane

Lisa Norato is the multi-published author of Prize of My Heart, an inspirational, seafaring historical from Bethany House, set during the Federal era. A life-long New Englander, Lisa lives in a historic village with homes and churches dating as far back as the eighteenth century.